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This could well be the very last book you will ever have to read about how to lose weight.
- Do you love to eat?
- Would you like to have more energy?
- Have you ever been disappointed with a diet?
- Are you confused about what the best diet is?
- Would you like to lose weight without dieting?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, read on, because your ship has just come in. And although this is a book about diet, it is definitely not a "diet book".
Diet books, that is, books that prescribe a certain way of eating for a certain length of time in order to lose weight, are a relatively recent phenomenon. Although there are literally hundreds of them, they have all been written within the last 30-40 years. They are all quick fix, short-term, temporary solutions that do nothing to address the underlying cause of overweight. That is precisely why there is a never ending stream of new ones that come in amidst much fanfare and high hopes only to ultimately be replaced by the next latest and greatest one that inevitably comes along.
The question that begs to be answered is, "What effect have these diets that have come and gone like the passing seasons over the last three decades had on the overall, long term goal of controlling the problem of overweight and obesity? Have they helped to any degree?" The evidence is in and the overwhelming proof of their long term effect is both compelling and undeniable. It may surprise you to learn that far from these weight loss diets improving the overall situation, they have, in fact, worsened it.
Recently, the Washington Post reported on a government study that points out that over the last 35 years, we have now entered what is officially being declared an "overweight epidemic". In other words, it is out of control. And the crowning blow, the study states, is that "from 1970 until today, childhood obesity has tripled". We are in the midst of the most dire overweight predicament in history. And this predicament has occurred during the last 35 years that weight loss diets have proliferated. In the 1970's about $20 billion was spent on weight loss. Today it is about $40 billion. So as the expenditure of money doubled, the incidence of obesity, rather than decreasing, tripled.
Do you think that over the same 35 years during which wonder diets, weight loss books, and other weight loss schemes became popular that it is a mere coincidence that overweight and obesity reached epidemic proportions? Diets don't work! They never have and they never will. Yes, radical dietary regimens can be devised that will temporarily shed weight but so what! Would you like to be temporarily wealthy or temporarily in love? Or are those conditions that you would like to be long lasting? Then why temporary weight loss, which is all diets can achieve?
The reason why diets don't work long term is simple really. Whether it's a diet from the past or one that is in vogue today, they all have the exact same shortcoming built right into them that insures their long term failure. They are all designed to:
- Lose as much weight as possible;
- As fast as possible;
- By any means possible;
- And at any cost!
Unfortunately the single most important element required for successful, long term, permanent weight loss is left out of the equation, and that is how to so nourish and strengthen the body with proper diet that maintaining a healthy body weight becomes an automatic result of the manner in which you eat. No, the only consideration is how much weight can be lost and how fast. That's even though the weight, more often than not, will ultimately return.
Temporary weight loss schemes are certainly not the only reason why the problem of overweight is out of control, but to deny their influence as a causative factor is a mistake of the first order. The problem with what is called "yo-yo dieting" is every time the diet ends and the weight comes back, a little more weight is gained than the time before and it is a little more difficult to take it back off. Over time this weakens the body's ability to lose weight and little by little the dieter becomes bigger and bigger and is less and less capable of keeping the weight off.
How has it happened that something as normal, natural, and fundamental to life as eating has become such a baffling puzzle? Or as Winston Churchill put it, "A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." No other animal species on this planet ever has a weight problem. Look around at the natural kingdom-you will never, ever find an animal that is overweight. The only time you will ever see overweight animals is when they come and live with us! An overweight wild dog or an overweight wild cat is absolutely unheard of. Yet dogs and cats that live with humans frequently become overweight. Ever think about that? Why do you think that is?
The explanation of why animals outside the influence of human beings do become overweight, and in record numbers, is simple, obvious, and altogether bewildering. We've never learned how to feed ourselves! Now obviously, this is not to suggest that we haven't learned how to get food into our mouths, that clearly has been learned all too well. What we have not learned, however, is how to eat in such a way that we not only fully enjoy food and the eating experience, but we also nourish the body sufficiently so that it functions at the highest level possible.
The answer as to why animals become overweight when they wind up as our pets, lies in the fact that we make the same mistake with them that we make with ourselves: we don't feed them properly. Animals left to their own devices in Nature automatically seek out and eat the foods that are most appropriate for their overall well-being. We, on the other hand, are at a distinct disadvantage. We have to contend with two immensely persuasive influences that are a constant deterrent to properly feeding ourselves.
First is a gargantuan food industry with immeasurable resources whose primary goal is to entice and convince us, by any means possible, to eat as much food as possible and as often as possible. The incessant advertising and promotion of a mind-boggling range of the full gamut of every possible type of food imaginable is ongoing day and night, 24 hours a day. Second is an endless stream of "experts" dispensing a dizzying array of contradictory opinions about what is and what is not the ideal way to eat in order to enjoy good health.
Consider what those people who decide to take measures to lose weight are confronted with before starting. Do I count calories? Do I measure portions? Do I drink those chalky tasting meal replacements instead of eating honest-to-goodness real food? Do I use appetite suppressants that can cause death? Do I eat all protein or no protein? Do I eat high carb or low carb? What about my blood type, body type, and emotional type? Good grief! No wonder people are so confused and frustrated. And all the while the experts bicker up and back that their approach, although the opposite of the other experts, is the best one to take.
There is a great irony in all of this. As is true in so many areas of life, the simplest, most obvious solutions to problems are the ones that are most frequently overlooked. As millions of people chase after temporary, unrealistic remedies that have long term failure built right into them, only to find out that they have been taken on yet one more promise-laden road to nowhere, the simple solution to the problem of overweight sits like a shining jewel, unnoticed, unutilized, and unfulfilled right before our eyes.
Have you finally had it with trying the latest fad diet with great resolve only to have your efforts and hopes dashed on the rocks of disappointment? Have you had your fill of the dieting merry-go-round that promises everything and delivers nothing of permanence?
After figuring out how to lose 50 pounds without dieting, Harvey Diamond has spent 35 years teaching others how to do the same. He has helped literally millions of people all around the world learn a permanent, lifelong eating lifestyle that, without removing any food groups, allows the eating experience to remain a joyous one, not a clinical endeavor of denial and frustration. It is a simple, straightforward approach that proves itself with visible, clearly defined results and is remarkably easy to grasp and implement, and so uncomplicated and forthright that you can confidently explain it to anyone, even a child.
The common sense, effective, and realistic approach to weight loss as an intelligent lifestyle contained in Harvey's new book, FIT FOR LIFE NOT FAT FOR LIFE has been a revelation for those people who are ready and eager to make a real and lasting change in their lives. His engaging, easy going, light hearted, even humorous approach to writing makes the process of learning a most enjoyable one. His writing, rather than being dry and technical, is conversational, lively and interesting.
Now is your chance to join the millions of people who have successfully learned how to eat and eat well, and still maintain a comfortable body weight, without dieting.
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